    [House Hearing, 117 Congress]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                      WEALTH FOR THE WORKING CLASS: THE CLEAN
                                  ENERGY ECONOMY

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                           SUBCOMMITTEE ON INNOVATION,
                                ENTREPRENEURSHIP,
                           AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

                                     OF THE

                          COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
                                 UNITED STATES
                            HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                        ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                                  HEARING HELD
                                 JULY 27, 2021

                                   __________

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                Small Business Committee Document Number 117-028
                 Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov

                                   __________

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    45-131                    WASHINGTON : 2021

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS

                     NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, New York, Chairwoman
                              JARED GOLDEN, Maine
                              JASON CROW, Colorado
                             SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
                             KWEISI MFUME, Maryland
                            DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota
                             MARIE NEWMAN, Illinois
                           CAROLYN BOURDEAUX, Georgia
                             TROY CARTER, Louisiana
                              JUDY CHU, California
                           DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania
                           ANTONIO DELGADO, New York
                         CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania
                              ANDY KIM, New Jersey
                             ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
                  BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri, Ranking Member
                             ROGER WILLIAMS, Texas
                            JIM HAGEDORN, Minnesota
                            PETE STAUBER, Minnesota
                            DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania
                            CLAUDIA TENNEY, New York
                           ANDREW GARBARINO, New York
                             YOUNG KIM, California
                             BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas
                             BYRON DONALDS, Florida
                             MARIA SALAZAR, Florida
                          SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin

                     Melissa Jung, Majority Staff Director
                Ellen Harrington, Majority Deputy Staff Director
                         David Planning, Staff Director

                                C O N T E N T S

                               OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                       Page
    Hon. Jason Crow..................................................     1
    Hon. Young Kim...................................................     3

                                   WITNESSES

    Ms. Leticia Colon De Mejias, Chief Executive Officer of Energy
      Efficiencies Solutions and Co-Chair for the Building
      Performance Association, Energy Efficiencies Solutions,
      Windsor, CT....................................................     5
    Mr. James Hasselbeck, Director of Operations, ReVision Energy,
      Inc., South Portland, ME.......................................     7
    Mr. Samuel Gilchrist, Western Campaigns Director, Natural
      Resources Defense Council, Denver, CO..........................     9
    Mr. Tom Greer, Proprietor and Owner, Hub City Brewing Co., Belen,
      NM, testifying on behalf of the Consumer Energy Alliance.......    11

                                    APPENDIX

    Prepared Statements:
        Ms. Leticia Colon De Mejias, Chief Executive Officer of
          Energy Efficiencies Solutions and Co-Chair for the Building
          Performance Association, Energy Efficiencies Solutions,
          Windsor, CT................................................    30
        Mr. James Hasselbeck, Director of Operations, ReVision
          Energy, Inc., South Portland, ME...........................    40
        Mr. Samuel Gilchrist, Western Campaigns Director, Natural
          Resources Defense Council, Denver, CO......................    44
        Mr. Tom Greer, Proprietor and Owner, Hub City Brewing Co.,
          Belen, NM, testifying on behalf of the Consumer Energy
          Alliance...................................................    53
    Questions for the Record:
        None.
    Answers for the Record:
        None.
    Additional Material for the Record:
        ClearFlame Engine Technologies...............................    56

             WEALTH FOR THE WORKING CLASS: THE CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY

                                  ----------

                             TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2021

                  House of Representatives,
                   Committee on Small Business,
          Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship,
                                     and Workforce Development,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:02 a.m., in
    Room 2360, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jason Crow
    [chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
        Present: Representatives Crow, Davids, Phillips, Newman,
    Bourdeaux, Luetkemeyer, Williams, Tenney, Garbarino, and Young
    Kim.
        Chairman CROW. Good morning. I call this hearing to order.
    Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess
    at any time.
        Let me begin by saying that standing House and committee
    rules and practice will continue to apply during hybrid
    proceedings. All members are reminded that they are expected to
    adhere to these standing rules, including decorum.
        House regulations require members to be visible through our
    video connection throughout the proceedings, so please keep
    your cameras on. Also, please remember to remain muted until
    you are recognized to minimize background noise. If you have to
    participate in another proceeding, please exit this one and log
    back in later.
        In the event a member encounters technical issues that
    prevent them from being recognized for their questioning, I
    will move to the next available member of the same party and
    will recognize that member at the next appropriate time slot
    provided they have returned to the proceeding.
        Those members and staff physically present in the committee
    room today, we will continue to follow the most recent OAP
    guidance. Masks are no longer required in our meeting space for
    members and staff who have been fully vaccinated. All members
    and staff who have not been fully vaccinated are still required
    to wear masks and socially distance.
        In the first half of 2020, extreme weather events rocked
    the United States and countries worldwide. Historic winter
    storms in Texas, raging wildfires in Oregon, and unprecedented
    floods in Michigan remind us of the imminent danger that
    climate change poses regardless of location.
        Just last week Secretary Holland was in my home State of
    Colorado meeting with local leaders about the worsening drought
    and wildfire conditions. These extreme weather events in the
    U.S. are mirrored by similar episodes across the globe. This
    wealth of evidence makes it abundantly clear that a climate
    crisis is a threat to human lives and to economic prosperity.
    That is why we must act now to protect our plant and create a
    more sustainable economy.
        Developing the clean energy economy won't be a small task
    and comes with its fair share of challenges. At the same time
    we must understand the many benefits that going green can
    deliver to small businesses and the American economy.
        For businesses relying on renewable power generation or
    increased energy efficiency can lead to lower costs and
    consumption and ultimately a higher bottom line. By increasing
    investment in renewables on a macro basis we can transform the
    U.S. into a global leader in clean energy, reducing our
    dependence on foreign nations.
        Going green also has the potential to reinvigorate the
    labor market by creating millions of good paying jobs spread
    across tens of thousands of businesses. In fact, across the
    country, we already see the ways that clean energy can benefit
    our economy.
        Clean energy firms account for roughly 35,000 businesses
    across the country and employ over 3 million workers. Small
    businesses dominate the clean energy sectors, with nearly 90
    percent of businesses employing fewer than 100 employees and
    nearly a third of those with fewer than five.
        These jobs also pay well with medium hourly wages 25
    percent higher than the national average, and they tend to hire
    local workers as well. Yet these small firms often lack access
    to capital necessary to expand their operations and meet the
    clean energy demand. That is why I am planning on introducing
    the House companion version of the 504 Green Energy Enhancement
    Act which would increase 504 loan amounts for energy efficiency
    and renewable energy projects.
        With fighting the climate crisis being one of the top
    priorities for the President and the 117th Congress, the clean
    energy economy will likely continue to grow and create more
    better paying jobs for the American people. Unfortunately, if
    Americans don't have the requisite skills to fill jobs in the
    clean energy economy, they won't experience these benefits.
    Many firms in the sector already report difficulty finding
    workers. Without adequate investment in workforce development
    to ensure qualified workers are available, we run the risk of
    grounding the clean energy economy before it has a chance to
    take off. This would have profound consequences for the health
    of our economy and our decarbonization goals, so it is vital
    that Congress works to ensure workers have the skills and
    credentials needed to fill these roles.
        Today's hearing will allow us to explore different types of
    workforce development initiatives and what Congress can do to
    facilitate their implementation.
        With that, I want to thank all of our witnesses for being
    here today, and I look forward to our conversation.
        I would now like to yield to the Ranking Member, Mrs. Young
    Kim, for her opening statement.
        Mrs. YOUNG KIM. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this
    hearing. And I also want to welcome and thank the members for
    participating in person or joining us via Zoom today.
        Prior to the pandemic and under the previous
    administration's pro growth and deregulatory agenda, an
    extraordinary 160 million Americans were employed, and the
    unemployment rate fell to a 50-year low. Additionally, wages
    for rank and file workers and nonsupervisory employees were
    rising faster than the wages for managers or supervisors. Now
    3.2 million Americans are unemployed, all while small
    businesses place help wanted signs on their storefronts and
    struggle to find the labor force to meet heightened demand.
        As we safely reopen our communities and transition to
    recovery, I hope we can continue to work together to help small
    businesses stay afloat while also supporting American workers.
        Despite the tremendous amount of financial relief flowing
    to small businesses, many continue to endure a challenging
    recovery. Since January of this year, inflation has increased
    every single month and is climbing at the fastest rate in 13
    years. We cannot continue the current path of reckless spending
    which in turn is becoming a tax on America's workers, middle
    class families, and small businesses.
        In May, roughly half of small businesses, 48 percent, were
    forced to raise their prices. This is the largest percentage
    reported in 40 years. Small businesses and workers are
    particularly vulnerable to changes in the price of fuel, food,
    and materials, and now they are simultaneously experiencing a
    decrease worth of their paychecks.
        To pay for this administration's spending plans, the
    President has proposed various tax increases that will impact
    small businesses and workers. Within the American Jobs Plan,
    which focuses on items, including the Green New Deals, climate
    change initiatives, the President is proposing to pay for the
    spending by increasing the corporate tax rate from 21 percent
    to 28 percent. This will impact over a million small businesses
    organized as C corporations. I think it is worth noting that 55
    percent of subchapter C corporations have five or fewer
    employees and 85 percent have fewer than 20 employees. So among
    the outsized effects, a corporate tax increase will directly
    cause utility costs to surge across the country and, as a
    result, millions of small businesses will face higher electric,
    gas, and water bills.
        The Biden administration has paired government spending
    with government regulations that further hinder America's small
    business recovery. The costs of regulatory compliance is
    disproportionately burdensome for small businesses who operate
    on thin margins with less staff and tight budgets. We should
    empower small businesses to innovate, not add the additional
    costs of regulatory compliance to their balance sheet.
        I believe we can return to the booming economy we had
    before the pandemic, but any efforts to increase regulations
    and impose additional requirements on small businesses will
    further hinder recovery and jeopardize the state of our
    nation's smallest firms.
        Small businesses have the flexibility, the agility, and the
    creativity to overcome anything. But, Congress, we need to
    allow them to do that by continuing to provide pro growth, pro
    business policies.
        So I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today and
    let's discuss on how we can support them and work across the
    nation.
        With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back.
        Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mrs. Young Kim. The gentlewoman
    yields back.
        I would like to take a moment to explain how this hearing
    will proceed. Each witness will have 5 minutes to provide a
    statement, and each committee member will have 5 minutes for
    questions. Please ensure that your microphone is on when you
    begin speaking and that you return to mute when you are
    finished.
        With that, I would like to introduce our witnesses.
        Our first witness is Ms. Leticia Colon De Mejias--am I
    pronouncing that right, Ms. Mejias--the founder and CEO of
    Energy Efficiencies Solutions, a Connecticut based full service
    energy conservation company. EES provides comprehensive energy
    efficiency services, like home energy assessments and energy
    education.
        Ms. Mejias cofounded Green Echo Warriors, a nonprofit youth
    ecology and conservation group. She is also a longtime
    workforce development expert, having developed and coordinated
    ESL and adult-based education courses for the staff at Hartford
    Hospital and created the Your Education Success Foundation to
    support adult learners who desire to return to school.
        Welcome, Ms. Colon De Mejias. We look forward to your
    testimony.
        Our next witness is Mr. James Hasselbeck, the director of
    operations at ReVision Energy, a solar installation company in
    Portland, Maine. He has been involved in the development,
    engineering, and construction of public and private renewable
    energy projects since 2006.
        After joining ReVision Energy in 2012, he became director
    of operations for all three locations in Maine, Massachusetts,
    and New Hampshire. He is also board member of The amicus Solar
    Cooperative.
        Welcome, Mr. Hasselbeck.
        Our third witness is Mr. Sam Gilchrist, the western
    campaigns director for the National Resources Defense Council
    where he focuses on State and local policies to ensure a just
    transition for Colorado's energy workers. Before joining NRDC,
    he worked as the executive director of Colorado's AFL-CIO and
    now resides in my district in Colorado.
        Thank you--actually I will go back. I skipped a page.
        Welcome, Mr. Gilchrist.
        I will now yield to the Ranking Member, Mrs. Young Kim, to
    introduce our final witness.
        Mrs. YOUNG KIM. Thank you, Chairman.
        It is a pleasure to introduce our first witness, Mr. Tom
    Greer. He is an owner and proprietor of Hub City Brewing
    Company. He is here on behalf of the Consumer Energy Alliance.
    Mr. Greer currently resides in Belen, New Mexico.
        In 2013, Mr. Greer opened Hub City Brewing Company at the
    Belen Rail Runner Station in the heart of downtown to support
    local tourism and economic development. Many have referred to
    Hub City Brewing Company as Belen's Cheers. This is a community
    gathering place where everyone knows your name.
        Prior to Hub City Brewing Pub, Mr. Greer had an extensive
    career in television and marketing and held numerous leadership
    roles, including president of the board of directors of the
    Greater Belen Chamber of Commerce, also serving as Vice
    President of the Belen Main Street Partnership, and New Mexico
    State director of the Concerned Veterans for America.
        Mr. Greer is passionate about revitalizing the economy and
    ensuring prosperity for all communities, including rural areas.
    His entrepreneur background and dedication to economic
    development will be extremely beneficial to our hearing today.
        So thank you, Mr. Greer, for taking time to testify and
    share your experience with us today.
        Chairman, I yield back.
        Chairman CROW. Thank you very much. The gentlewoman yields
    back.
        Ms. Colon De Mejias, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.

    STATEMENTS OF LETICIA COLON DE MEJIAS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
    OF ENERGY EFFICIENCIES SOLUTIONS AND CO-CHAIR FOR THE BUILDING
        PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATION, ENERGY EFFICIENCIES SOLUTIONS,
    WINDSOR, CT; JAMES HASSELBECK, DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, REVISION
      ENERGY, INC., SOUTH PORTLAND, ME; SAMUEL GILCHRIST, WESTERN
    CAMPAIGNS DIRECTOR, NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, DENVER,
    CO; AND TOM GREER, PROPRIETOR AND OWNER, HUB CITY BREWING CO.,
    BELEN, NM, TESTIFYING ON BEHALF OF THE CONSUMER ENERGY ALLIANCE

                  STATEMENT OF LETICIA COLON DE MEJIAS

        Ms. COLON DE MEJIAS. Thank you, Honorable Chairman Crow and
    Ranking Member for the opportunity to be here today with you.
    It is so important that small businesses be allowed a space at
    the table as you work to lift our nation, people, and our
    economy.
        I am Leticia Colon De Mejias. I am the owner of Energy
    Efficiencies Solutions, President of the Building Performance
    Association policy Co-Chair, and Chair of Equity and
    Opportunity for Latino Affairs in the State of Connecticut
    Commission on Equity and Opportunity, and board member for the
    initiative board. But, more importantly, I employ 27 people in
    energy efficiency careers. Twenty-three of them are minorities
    and people of color, ten are women in leadership roles, and all
    are earning between $32,000 and $75,000 annually, with the
    potential of an increased $100,000 a years with sales
    commission.
        I have helped four other people start companies just like
    my own that are now owned by minorities and women, and I left
    my career in healthcare and workforce for 16 years to start
    this business after seeing a film called ``Kilowatt Hours''
    that informed me on the climate and energy crisis which is
    polluting the world we live in today. As a mother and
    grandmother, I felt compelled to leave the industry I work in
    and start this energy efficiency job to open opportunities for
    people in my community to find better sources of employment
    with higher rates of pay and more flexible schedules.
        I leveraged my good credit to purchase tools and get
    certified in the demand reduction field to both literally and
    figuratively close gaps in my community, estate, and our energy
    bills. My first year yielded about $150,000, which was more
    than I made at the hospital, and my second year I began to
    struggle to find qualified workers. That is the struggle that I
    am dealing with today. It is the thing that ails my industry
    overall because, despite these careers being viable and
    accessible and offering excellent pay in benefits, we are not
    finding Americans who want to work or have the skills needed to
    work in these careers.
        What we need is more Federal support directly to help small
    businesses afford the costs of training and reskilling our
    current employees because our technology has continued to
    change rapidly daily to meet the consumer market demands and
    Federal law changes. We need to have resources and take
    intentional steps to close the workforce disparities as they
    relate specifically to people of color, women, minorities, and
    underrepresented populations that have been historically left
    behind, for so many Americans are unaware there is growing
    opportunities in energy efficiency and the clean energy
    economy. And how can someone be prepared for something that
    they don't even know exists? Unfortunately, we have not put
    enough emphasis or resources behind science and public schools,
    and we have done very little to communicate broadly on the
    benefits of social skills and soft skills as they relate to
    critical workforce success.
        We also have not invested in simplifying our workforce
    programs to help career transitions or get Americans back to
    work in these careers which they are ready for Americans to be
    hired in today.
        As a person of action, EES has a motto, ``We are here to
    help.'' And when we see a gap or a crack, we seek to fill that
    gap aptly, and so we use our Ts, time, talent, tenacity, and
    teamwork to solve problems together, and we have served over
    14,000 households and over 10 million square feet of
    multifamily housing to draw down up to 30 percent of that
    building's energy demand, allowing them to use that money for
    their families, businesses, education, or healthcare, drawing
    down demands for energy and pollution at the same time and
    employing our communities as we go because if you have
    buildings with a B, we have careers for you.
        We can drive down the cost of energy and drive up the
    access to renewable resources, and we help our staff buy cars,
    homes, and live the American dream. And as I said, finding
    workers is the most difficult part. And I suggest that we push
    forward with robust investments in programs which offer direct
    supports to small businesses. An example of this is the Blue
    Collar to Green Collar Jobs Act which seeks to offer short-term
    training programs and equip Americans with the skills to fill
    the jobs and earn higher wages right now.
        We need to give priority to companies who hire minorities,
    veterans, and women and help them transition people from the
    fossil fuel industry into clean energy careers by leveraging
    the skill sets they have already.
        And Congress can support robust efficiency rebates to help
    Americans lower their bills and demands all the while
    increasing local job opportunities because, frankly speaking,
    efficiency overlooked is just efficient.
        We must ensure that these activities support the workforce
    development that are accessible to small businesses and include
    flexibility and use of funds for on-the-job training programs
    because there is no Department of Labor code for energy
    efficiency, making it very difficult for us to access
    apprenticeship programs, particularly in the residential
    sector, and this is a major barrier to our work expansion or
    growth depth. The Department of Energy has an understanding of
    this industry, and there needs to be supports for residential
    business. It is usual. We need ensure more leaders and Federal
    staff and departments understand the value of efficiency as a
    drawdown to close gaps in bills and health in our climate
    crisis and to provide stability for our clean energy economy
    and success for all Americans.
        At Efficiency for All, we are currently conducting a 12-
    week program to train individuals on all of the certified
    skills needed, as well as soft skills so they may get jobs
    immediately in the Energize Connecticut Program, and this
    program connects them directly to on-the-job training and a 6-
    week training internship.
        In conclusion, it is time that we diversify our clean
    energy workforce. Most of my staff came from at-risk
    populations and they were underserved, but that did not hold us
    back. We have continued to grow, all the while supporting the
    communities we came from because we know our work helps
    everyone. And the sooner we educate our communities on how to
    draw down energy demands and ramp up clean energy resources,
    the better off we will all be.
        As a proud American and small business owner, I know that
    together we can create a responsible path forward to ensure
    inclusive transitions to clean, resilient, stable clean energy
    economy which could benefit all Americans regardless of
    economic or social standing.
        Thank you.
        Chairman CROW. Thank you, Ms. Colon De Mejias. And I will
    remind all witnesses to please stick with the 5-minute time
    limit. I appreciate your testimony.
        Mr. Hasselbeck, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.

                     STATEMENT OF JAMES HASSELBECK

        Mr. HASSELBECK. Chairman Crow, Ranking Member Young Kim,
    and members of this committee. My name is James Hasselbeck, and
    I am director of operations of ReVision Energy, a renewable
    contracting company in northern New England. I am grateful for
    this opportunity to provide testimony on behalf of my 300
    employee owners.
        My goal today is to illustrate how ReVision Energy is
    disrupting traditional business norms as we confront the
    rampant climate damage resulting from 8 billion people burning
    fossil fuels. At the same time, we are trying to alleviate the
    social injustices and inequities historically inflicted on our
    by bot communities.
        The shear scale of modernizing our national grid,
    electrifying transportation, and transitioning to beneficial
    electrification is reminiscent of the public works projects
    that revitalized America after the Great Recession. The private
    sector is recognizing the economic opportunity and is investing
    hundreds of billions of dollars in this effort. This influx of
    capital, often catalyzed by early State government R&D support,
    has resulted in wind and solar becoming the most cost-effective
    electricity generation sources available today.
        Lazard's most recent levelized cost of energy analysis
    objectively demonstrates solar and wind being the lowest cost
    source of power generation available. This analysis is proven
    by ongoing massive investments in renewables, with solar
    projects alone making up over 40 percent of power plants
    brought on line in 2020. This manufacturing capacity for
    batteries continues to expand and prices continue to fall. We
    are also seeing increased adoption of energy storage. This is
    evident in the rapid expansion of electric vehicles and
    associated low carbon transportation infrastructure.
        My construction teams are thrilled at the idea of charging
    their power pools and laptops on a remote job site using
    battery from their F-150 Lightening of lugging a heavy
    generator around.
        The technology works, the money is flowing, and the public
    and private interest and desire for renewables is expanding at
    a rapid base, so rapid that our collective barrier to increased
    adoption is increasingly less economic or technological but
    instead due to a lack of skilled labor. You cannot outsource
    clean energy project installations.
        Our workforce today includes over 230,000 Americans at
    10,000 small businesses in solar alone according to the Solar
    Energy Industries Association. This same workforce needs to
    expand to over 900,000 to achieve the ambitious but necessary
    clean electricity priorities President Biden has set for 2035.
        The women and men on ReVision Energy's installation team
    are electricians, plumbers, and apprentices. They are supported
    by engineers, system designers, project managers, procurement
    and warehouse staff, sales reps, financing pros, and legal
    experts. Together we self-perform millions of dollars of
    construction work in New England with our in-house teams and
    work closely with our subcontractor partners to build many more
    megawatts of clean power.
        This also creates millions of dollars in revenue and
    corresponding jobs for our many domestic suppliers and vendors,
    and as hard as we try, even with the support of our incredible
    allies, we cannot meet the demand for highly skilled
    tradeswomen and men.
        In response to this workforce challenge, in 2018, we
    created the ReVision Energy Training Center and Electrical
    Apprentice Program. In partnership with State regulatory
    agencies and the Federal Department of Labor, this 4-year
    program helps our team achieve the on-the-job and classroom
    electrical training to provide each individual a trade license
    and the skills to secure a high standard of living for the
    balance of their careers.
        Organized labor's focus on worker benefits, safety, and
    career training is an admirable and critically important part
    of any workforce development program. We highly value our
    historical partnership with the IBEW and especially our good
    friends at the local Ford plant who invited President Harris to
    their new facility in April. However, we want to be abundantly
    clear in highlighting that there are additional methods to
    facilitate workforce development, safety, and worker benefits
    outside of conventional organized labor structures.
        We think our 100 percent employee-owned certified B Corp.
    company structure shared by many of our Amicus Solar
    Cooperative partners provides an equally valuable platform for
    workers' rights and benefits. We encourage the committee to
    look for opportunities to provide funding and support to
    alternative workforce development initiatives, in addition to
    the important and well established union programs.
        In 2015, ReVision Energy became a certified B Corp. B
    corporations are companies that make explicit our commitment to
    multi stakeholder capitalism. The impacts on those multiple
    stakeholder groups are annually reviewed and certified by the
    objective third-party B Labs to assure compliance and
    continuous improvement.
        Our deep commitment to our workers, communities, and the
    planet earn ReVision Energy best for the world in the workers
    category recognition from B Labs this year.
        Building on that, in 2017, the cofounders of ReVision
    Energy decided to sell the company to our employees through an
    employee stock ownership plan or ESOP----
        Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Hasselbeck. Unfortunately,
    your time has expired. We will have more opportunity during the
    Q&A for you to fully flesh that out.
        Mr. HASSELBECK. Thank you.
        Chairman CROW. Mr. Gilchrist, you are now recognized for 5
    minutes.

                     STATEMENT OF SAMUEL GILCHRIST

        Mr. GILCHRIST. Thank you, Chairman Crow, thank you, Ranking
    Member Young Kim, for inviting me to testify today, as well as
    thank you to the distinguished members of the House Committee
    on Small Business.
        My name is Sam Gilchrist, and I am the western campaigns
    director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. NRDC is an
    international nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers,
    and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public
    health and the environment.
        As Chairman Crow stated, prior to joining NRDC, I served as
    the executive director of the Colorado AFL-CIO. There we
    represented over 130,000 workers, many of whom worked within
    the broader energy sector, including the coal and fossil fuel
    industries. Together we now work to develop policy solutions to
    ensure these workers and their communities have a future in the
    clean energy economy.
        The climate crisis is affecting communities across this
    nation in terms of both our economic and physical health. The
    decline of coal is being accelerated by the urgent need for us
    to reorient our energy policies away from burning fossil fuels
    in favor of cleaner, cheaper renewable energy.
        Communities largely dependent on coal for high-paying jobs
    and local tax revenue are facing uncertainty as market forces
    make it less economical to produce energy from fossil fuels.
    The closure of coal mines and power plants can be economically
    catastrophic and socially disorienting. The trauma caused by
    shifting economics is long lasting and involves the entire
    community. We have seen this before in many places across the
    country, but we have not always been prepared to address the
    situation proactively. This leaves many communities behind as
    their industries shutter.
        The bottom line is that the clean energy transition is
    happening, and there are many opportunities to create good jobs
    in the clean energy future, and clean energy jobs are good
    jobs. According to the Environmental Entrepreneurs E2 Clean
    Energy Jobs America 2021 report, the clean energy sector now
    employs more than 3 million individuals nationwide. Median
    hourly wages are roughly 25 percent higher than the national
    average. More than 2/3 of clean energy jobs are in energy
    efficiency, while the remainder are in renewable energy,
    engineering, smart buildings, HVAC, electric vehicles, clean
    fuels, et cetera.
        These jobs are hyper local, and they really aren't just
    concentrated in major metropolitan areas. Nearly 400,000
    workers, which is about 13 percent of the clean energy
    workforce, exists in rural regions. Most clean energy jobs are
    in small businesses. As was already mentioned, more than 60
    percent are employed by companies with fewer than 20 employees
    and about 90 percent of companies with fewer than 100. And I
    think it needs to be reiterated that these are jobs that cannot
    be exported or outsourced to our foreign competitors.
        To ensure a prosperous future for many small businesses and
    local economies, we must support these companies and
    incentivize them to create more clean energy jobs. In Colorado,
    we have created the Office of Just Transition to help determine
    this path forward. The office created an action plan that
    recognizes that to succeed in economic diversification, small
    business growth, tax revenue protection, and good jobs for
    workers, communities must design their own futures and have
    adequate lead time and resources to do so, and we are in the
    process currently of building that model.
        Colorado's Governor Polis has called on the Federal
    administration to do three things to help workers in their
    communities through the transition to clean energy accounts:
    First, develop a national strategy for impacted fossil fuel
    workers; two, address local budget shortfalls due to the loss
    of property tax and other revenues; and, three, finance long-
    term State and local economic development resiliency and
    diversification.
        The Clean Jobs Report outlines further steps that the
    federal government can take to grow jobs and drive investments
    in States which are further detailed in my written testimony.
        Investing in clean energy is a win-win for our country. We
    can reduce emissions that impact our climate and negatively
    affect our health while also creating good jobs, jobs that are
    largely in small businesses. We need Federal action to ensure
    these investments benefit everyone.
        The bottom line is there is no better time to make these
    investments than now as we slowly recover from the ongoing
    pandemic. The clean energy transition is happening. It is going
    to affect workers and communities across the country, and we
    need to develop a national strategy. The strategy should focus
    on worker support and community-led solutions to create more
    diversified communities where small businesses can thrive.
        Once again, thank you very much for this opportunity to
    testify.
        Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Gilchrist.
        Mr. Greer, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.

                         STATEMENT OF TOM GREER

        Mr. GREER. Thank you, and good morning.
        My name is Tom Greer, and I am the owner of Hub City
    Brewing Company in the small rural town of Belen, New Mexico,
    25 miles south of Albuquerque. I grew up in East Lansing,
    Michigan, and my family was typical in those times, 1950s
    through the 1970s of the American middle class, two kids, dad
    with a solid job, and a mom who was highly underrated as a
    homemaker.
        I attended Michigan State University, began my career as a
    professor at Lansing Community College as the media Department
    curriculum coordinator during the economic recession of 1974
    and 1975. I worked directly with hundreds of union blue collar
    auto workers, many of whom could only fall back on their
    veteran's education benefits and unemployment to keep their
    family afloat.
        I moved to New York City to be a professor at Long Island
    University's Brooklyn Campus. My students were predominantly
    African American, and I will never forget them regularly
    walking me to the subway station after my night classes to make
    sure I got to the train safely.
        I was recruited by J. Walter Thompson in 1980 at the time
    home shopping and new satellite delivered TV industry was
    launched and became vice president and director of new media
    development where my job was to introduce the JWT clients to
    new media opportunities. Since leaving JWT in 1982, I created
    and ran numerous television production and tourism-related
    businesses in New York, Colorado, Montana, and currently New
    Mexico.
        We moved to Belen, New Mexico, in 2005. Climate, proximity
    to a large city, airport, interstate highway access, and the
    southern terminus of the new Rail Runner commuter train
    presented an exciting challenge, and we thought we could make a
    difference.
        The Rail Cafe opened in 2007. Then housing collapse of 2008
    hit Belen very hard. The cafe closed in 2008, but we kept the
    building. A booming microbrewing industry in New Mexico led to
    our opening Hub City Brewing in 2016. Then came the pandemic in
    2019, 15 months of struggles with being open, closed, carry out
    only, outdoor seating at 25 percent during the height of the
    winter, on again off again. Despite that, we have made it
    through to today.
        So how do small businesses like mine continue to operate
    and thrive in this post-pandemic world? We are currently facing
    food and supply shortages, transportation issues, big spikes in
    the costs of supplies and services and, as a lot of the rest of
    you, difficulties in finding reliable employees.
        We need to make improvements and repairs, and the cost of
    building supplies are at an all-time high. The last thing we
    need are more Federal and State regulations, higher business
    taxes and higher energy costs. Profit margins in the restaurant
    and building industry are slim. We already face increased
    insurance costs, an unpredictable labor market, and a
    cumbersome regulatory environment.
        We use a lot of electricity in our food and brewing process
    and are blessed with an abundance and affordable clean energy
    source in natural gas here in New Mexico. Natural gas plays a
    role in the all-of-the-above smart plan, along with wind and
    solar that I strongly support here in Mexico. We have plenty of
    natural gas and petroleum domestically, so we don't want to be
    held hostage again by other producing countries, many of whom
    are not our friends. We have in the past seen what $4 plus gas
    prices do to the economy and particularly to our low wage
    earners as a larger percentage of their income.
        We need Federal regulations that are predictable so we can
    plan long term. We can't just change the rules in the middle of
    the game, which seems to happen too often.
        We can't afford higher Federal tax rates for businesses,
    particularly small ones like mine that are already struggling
    to stay open and serve their communities. Small family-owned
    businesses are the backbone of both our rural and minority
    owned intercity businesses.
        Refunding the SBA Restaurant Revitalization Grant program
    is essential. Eliminate the special class designation that got
    funding as it hurt many communities it was intended to help.
    While I am an old White guy, likely last in line and not
    funded, I serve a predominantly blue collar, rural Hispanic
    community.
        We have made a difference in this community. We have
    survived COVID, but it is sad so that so many businesses around
    our State have not. Many have failed, not because they didn't
    have a good idea, but rather the mandates of local State and
    federal governments were simply impossible to overcome.
        Thanks again for letting me share the Hub City Brewing
    story with you today.
        Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Greer.
        I will begin by recognizing myself for 5 minutes.
        Starting with Mr. Gilchrist, I am wondering if you could
    just flesh out further for me the issues of kind of just
    transition as it relates to small businesses? What does that
    look like in Colorado in particular? What has been successful?
        What can we do better to make sure that as this transition,
    which is actually largely at this point market driven as we go
    to clean energy, renewable energy, that is a largely private
    market driven process since that energy is increasingly cheaper
    than fossil fuel energy, what can we do better to help those
    small businesses and communities during that process?
        Mr. GILCHRIST. Thank you, Chairman Crow. That is a great
    question.
        And I think one of the many things we need to focus on is
    community investment, you know, aligning State and Federal
    programs to assist local strategies, really community driven
    strategies that are ultimately led by many of the small
    business owners who are leaders in their communities.
        We need to target early successes in business startups, you
    know, expansions, retention, and attraction, empower
    communities with resources to drive their own economic
    transitions as I mentioned, coordinate infrastructure
    investments to support local and regional transition
    strategies, and identify and support State, regional, Federal,
    and local institutions to facilitate needed investments. A lot
    of this work can help drive, you know, and attract grants and
    investments to power that local economic growth.
        So ultimately, I think it starts with the community--
    reaching out to the community, learning what that community
    needs, what those small business owners need, what sort of
    investments they need and allow them to drive those solutions
    locally.
        Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Gilchrist.
        And I am going to--instead of using the rest of my time, I
    am going to yield early to Mrs. Young Kim who has a competing
    hearing right now, make sure she has an opportunity to get her
    questions in, and then I can loop back later.
        Mrs. YOUNG KIM. Oh, thank you so much for your
    consideration, Chairman.
        I also, before I ask my questions to the witnesses, I
    wanted to recognize the presence of our Ranking Member of the
    committee, Mr. Luetkemeyer. Thank you so much for joining us,
    and our vice Ranking Member, Roger Williams, thank you for
    joining us.
        You know, I want to pose a question to Mr. Greer. As I
    mentioned in my opening statement, corporate tax increases will
    directly cause utility costs to surge across the country and,
    as a result, small businesses will face higher electric, gas
    bills, like gas and water bills. So how would that impact your
    business, if you can be specific in terms of how, give me the
    numbers and how it will impact you?
        Mr. GREER. Well, the utility costs as part of our
    operations is one of the largest, particularly in brewing beer.
    I use a tremendous amount of electricity. So however we are
    funded and however this energy is generated plays a major role
    on my bottom line.
        Mrs. YOUNG KIM. Thank you.
        You know, I want to talk about--we are talking a lot about
    the energy and infrastructure, but I think the infrastructure
    is met with a lot of burdensome regulations and red tape, and
    you talked about in your testimony that we need Federal
    regulations that are predictable so we can plan long term. I
    couldn't agree with you more on that. And you also said we
    can't just change the rules in the middle of the game, which
    seems to happen too often.
        I also agree with you on that. I mean, it is really
    important that as Members of Congress, as policymakers, we need
    to set the policies that is predictable so our businesses can
    plan and, you know, succeed according to that.
        So as a small business owner, can you explain to our
    committee how costly regulatory compliance is for small
    businesses?
        Mr. GREER. Well, when you add together local, State,
    Federal regulations, just keeping up to date on the changes
    that are made in them is very burdensome for me because I am
    actually a--I make beer.
        I don't have--I am a sole proprietor, along with my wife. I
    don't have a large staff who can keep me attuned to all of the
    idiosyncrasies.
        We also, in the process of this, beyond running a small
    business and having the regulations of a lot of common
    businesses like ours, we manufacture alcohol, so we have a
    whole other level of insurance regulations at the local, State,
    and Federal level for that and, of course, increased insurance
    costs and increased liability because of the product that we
    manufacture, so it is very difficult as things change around.
        And one of the things that I have always been the most
    concerned about is as administrations change in Washington, we
    tend to have very quick steps taken in one direction or another
    that tend to influence what we are able to do, and we
    definitely need to have an opportunity to do a long-term plan
    and to be able to stick to that. And in a lot of respects with
    that, we are stuck in the middle.
        Mrs. YOUNG KIM. You know, as Members of Congress continue
    to examine small businesses' recovery after COVID-19, is there
    anything that you can tell us that we should be doing to focus
    our efforts going forward?
        Mr. GREER. Well, one of the things, the Restaurant
    Revitalization Grant Fund was very well written by the Small
    Business Administration, and I think it was very helpful to a
    lot of people. Its biggest problem was that it ran out of
    money, and I believe that there is some conversation going on
    in Washington about refunding some of that to be more useful to
    the rest of us. It is not large amounts of money, but as an
    example, for me I could double my capacity if I could spend
    $4,000 that I don't have and drop another utility pole in to
    service my food truck. Right now I can run the truck or the
    brewery or the dish machine or my portable kitchen, but I don't
    have enough utilities at my disposal to be able to run any of
    them simultaneously.
        And while that looks like a very small amount of money, my
    wife and I have been running this business as volunteers for
    the last 15 months just in order to be able to stay afloat. So
    that may seem like pocket change to some people, but that and
    demands for other things, food prices, transportation, the fuel
    costs of our truckers, you know, we are looking at $4 a gallon
    fuel again, it is very difficult with the regulatory
    environment that we live in to make beer and serve my local
    community well.
        Mrs. YOUNG KIM. Thank you so much.
        I know my time is up. I will yield back. Thanks.
        Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
        We are going to go back and use my remaining 3 minutes now.
        I want to start by just stating a few facts at the outset
    on the issue of taxes. I am obviously somebody, you know, that
    has a background in counseling small businesses and regulatory
    compliance and taxes. And a couple of just facts are that 95
    percent of small businesses operate as passthrough entities and
    are exempt from the corporate tax rate. That is fact number
    one.
        Fact number two is that there is a lot that goes into a
    business besides just the corporate tax structure, like skilled
    workforce, good education system that feeds that business and
    helps them grow, roads and bridges that can move their products
    to port, reliable energy, and an infrastructure grid, clean
    water to make beer and do other things with an increasingly
    degrading water system, all of which requires public
    investment. And if we don't have the revenue to invest those
    things, we can't have growing and thriving businesses.
        And I also say that, you know, the corporate tax rate was
    35 percent in 2017, and going up to 28 percent for that small
    segment of non passthrough small businesses that would be
    impacted would, you know, not be devastating for those
    businesses. That is what business owners uniformly have been
    telling me. In fact, those investments that it would make would
    actually help the larger ecosystem and help them grow their
    businesses.
        So I just wanted to set the record straight on that.
        Before I go back to the members, I also wanted to ask Ms.
    Colon De Mejias, I am a huge fan of apprenticeship programs,
    and I know I see Mr. Garbarino on here who similarly shares my
    passion for apprenticeship programs. But I would love to hear
    from you very briefly on the role that apprenticeship programs
    in particular would play for helping workforce development
    because so many of these businesses just can't find employees.
    People are transitioning, and apprenticeships are really one of
    the best ways to do that.
        Ms. Colon De Mejias.
        Ms. COLON DE MEJIAS. Thank you.
        We don't--in energy efficiency, we don't have a labor code
    so we don't have an apprenticeship program. We have kind of
    been working to advocate for a labor code so that we could
    start programs to have apprenticeships, so we kind of have to
    create our own training. I would be hopeful that there would be
    a tandem path to allow both to exist.
        I think it is important to have an apprenticeship program
    in relationship to informing people that a business opportunity
    exists. Oftentimes people graduate school and they want to
    start an apprenticeship program and be an electrician or an
    HVAC person, and they don't know there are other lines of
    careers in our industry.
        So I think it would be important to develop those labor
    codes and ensure that there was that opportunity for
    apprenticeship programs.
        But I also think there are other conduits besides
    apprenticeship programs, like on-the-job training through an
    actual business, that could be just as well served and are much
    faster to get up and going. So in Connecticut, we have a
    program just like that that is starting actually in a week from
    now that will train people for these jobs. It would be great if
    there was a way to register them for those opportunities.
        Thank you.
        Chairman CROW. Thank you. I appreciate that, Ms. Colon De
    Mejias.
        I will now go to the gentlewoman from Georgia, Ms.
    Bourdeaux, for 5 minutes.
        Ms. BOURDEAUX. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chairman Crow
    and Ranking Member Ms. Young Kim, and thank you to our
    witnesses today.
        Clean energy jobs are powering the economic recovery in
    Georgia and across the country. After an initial decline due to
    the pandemic, Georgia had one of the fastest growing clean
    energy sectors of any State, growing over 29 percent between
    June and December of 2020, the second highest rate in the
    nation.
        One thing I talk about with my business community is that
    we really have a chance to do well by doing good in Georgia,
    both tackling climate change and also building new opportunity
    for Georgia businesses.
        The United States and Georgia have an opportunity to lead
    the world in clean energy technology, but it will require
    investment on the part of our policymakers to make that a
    reality.
        I was very interested in hearing about the apprenticeship
    programs or the lack of those, and an issue also near and dear
    to my heart is workforce development, and I have recently
    visited some of the technical colleges in Georgia looking at
    some of the programs that they are putting in place.
        And I wanted to just circle back to that issue with--
    actually, Mr. Gilchrist, I don't know if you have any insight
    on this, but at least since you sort of have a national view on
    it, you know, what do we need to be doing to build out the
    workforce for small businesses in this kind of clean energy
    technology space?
        Mr. GILCHRIST. Thank you, Representative Bourdeaux. That is
    a big question, and I do have a bit of experience in this area.
        The first thing is really investing in training programs
    and apprenticeships. You know, a lot of the union
    apprenticeships that we work alongside here in Colorado are
    already training their workers in clean energy. You know energy
    efficiency, as I mentioned before, is 2/3 of the workforce in
    clean energy. So, you know, those are jobs like insulators, you
    know, things that we don't necessarily think about in the
    trades. But the electrical workers especially are doing a lot
    of energy efficiency, the pipefitters (the United Association
    of Pipefitters and Plumbers) they are doing HVAC installations,
    which is a major energy efficiency upgrade. You know, the
    mechanical systems, updating and upgrading mechanical systems
    for buildings is extremely important, and that is a lot of work
    that can be done by highly skilled workers.
        So, I think we often categorize clean energy jobs with
    solar installers, installers, you know, wind technicians. And
    while they really are oftentimes good jobs, they aren't
    necessarily always the highest paid or the highest skilled. So
    you have to look at really the vast majority of where those
    workers are, which is in energy efficiency and, like I said
    before in my oral statement, that you know, it goes way beyond
    our typical understanding of clean energy jobs.
        But some things that we have done in Colorado, just this
    year we passed a bill helping to drive some innovation within
    training pathways for clean energy jobs. State Representative
    Dominique Jackson, who also resides in Congressman Crow's
    office, helped drive that bill which will work with the
    community college system, as well as a number of other
    stakeholders, to help create those pathways.
        And, you know, frankly, we have been thinking about this
    for quite some time. Colorado has really been an innovator in
    creating non-traditional sector training partnerships, you
    know, through things like a group called Career Connect or
    through our Denver public schools and school systems around the
    State to help students understand the breadth of opportunities,
    including in clean energy down the road.
        So, you know, they like to think of it as sort of a way to
    marry the vocational system with the traditional college system
    so that students can get an understanding of what sort of other
    vocational jobs are out there that are earn while you learn,
    high-paying jobs that are really career oriented and especially
    those in the union building trades sector.
        Another thing that we have done this year, which is sort of
    interesting, is to further incentivize, since we can't always
    predict the future, training programs, especially at the IBEW,
    and the pipe trades, which often take, you know, 5 to 6 years.
    So you have to start training those folks early on, and you
    can't do that without some understanding of what will be coming
    in the future. And so creating those incentives to invest in
    that cleaner, cheaper technology is really important.
        And I understand we are running close on time, but I
    definitely have more to say about that, so----
        Ms. BOURDEAUX. Okay. Well, I hope some other folks will ask
    some questions about that because I think we need to flesh that
    out and see to what extent we just need to bring the community
    together to put those pieces in place or to what extent, you
    know, we need to make some Federal investments in getting that
    training pipeline set up.
        Thank you so much. And I yield back.
        Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
        I will now recognize the gentleman from Texas, the Vice
    Ranking Member of the committee, Mr. Williams, for 5 minutes.
        Mr. WILLIAMS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        In full disclosure, I am a small business owner, I have
    been for 51 years, and I am in the automobile business, and I
    am from Texas.
        So under President Trump's pro growth policies and the Tax
    Cuts and Jobs Act, small businesses were able to keep more of
    their hard-earned profits. They used this money to reinvest in
    their businesses, hire new employees, and increase purchase
    orders. Unfortunately, President Biden and my colleagues on the
    left are trying to undo this progress and increase taxes on
    corporations, passthrough entities, and capital gains in order
    to pay for their social and environmental agenda. These tax
    increases will put our small businesses at a disadvantage,
    there is no doubt, as they are they are still trying to recover
    from the COVID-19 pandemic.
        And I have heard today from some of our witnesses that it
    is hard to find people to work. Well, if we quit paying people
    not to work, we would have people to work.
        And I can also say this too, in due respect to our
    Chairman, I don't know a person in my district, not one, that
    wants to pay more taxes to the federal government with what we
    see how the federal government spends. So you cut taxes, it is
    more employees. You raise taxes, you have less employees.
        So, with that in mind, Mr. Greer, can you elaborate how
    these tax hikes will affect your brewery and any pauses you
    have had to put on business investments due to this looming
    increase in taxes that the Democrats propose?
        Mr. GREER. Well, one of the things, to be clear, is that
    the taxes on me individually as a small business are a struggle
    for us at the best because our margins are so small. The thing
    that is most critical to me are Federal, State, and regional
    taxes on all of my suppliers across the country that
    continually drive the price of the goods and services that I
    purchase from them up and continue to increase our costs in
    transportation and supply in our brewery work, kind of the end
    producer of this.
        So taxes directly on me, the first year we were in
    business, when we added insurance, taxes, regulations, fees and
    all of the things together, 51 percent of my gross income in my
    first year went toward those expenses. So that will give you
    kind of an idea of the expenses at a small, small level. Every
    time we turn around, we find another fee or another tax or
    even, more importantly, changes in the taxes or the codes that
    we haven't been able to plan for or haven't been predictable.
        Mr. WILLIAMS. Well, and certainly don't talk about making
    things retroactive. I would suggest you move to Texas. We don't
    have a lot of those fees. You might think about that.
        Mr. GREER. I have been told that before.
        Mr. WILLIAMS. The private sector is going to be the ones
    who bring the emission reducing or carbon capture technology to
    market which will ultimately help the environment and not
    increase government mandates which don't help the environment.
    Many companies are already investing their own capital and
    putting resources to achieving this objective without the
    government telling them what to do, but if companies are forced
    to pay more taxes or hire additional compliance officers to
    deal with the burdensome new mandates, they will have less
    money in their business to bring forward these new initiatives
    to find a solution for the climate change.
        So, Mr. Hasselbeck, how can--in short, I am running out of
    time. How can the federal government better utilize resources
    to assist small businesses like yours to encourage investment
    and move innovative technology towards commercialization?
        Mr. HASSELBECK. Thank you for the question.
        And I think there is three fairly simple ways we can do it:
    A national training and incentive program to help us develop
    and coach 600,000 highly paid licensed electricians and clean
    energy technicians in a 15-year time frame; collaboration with
    the fossil fuel industry to map out an orderly transition to
    clean renewable energy, one that does right by the thousands of
    fossil fuel workers who have devoted their lives to powering
    our economy.
        And then a national focus on elementary and high school
    programs which teach the benefits of a career in the trades.
    These must be supported by investments in trade schools and
    community college programs specifically geared towards the
    clean tech workforce while also avoiding massive levels of
    student debt.
        Mr. WILLIAMS. Okay. Thank you.
        Mr. Greer, since President Biden took office, main street
    America is facing a new threat of inflation, whether it is
    higher gas prices, increased cost of raw materials, or higher
    utility bills, small businesses are among those hit hardest
    again by these spikes. To effect the rising operational
    expenses, business owners have often had to shift the burden on
    to the consumer and raise prices for goods and services, which
    you cannot do that much. You can't just raise prices.
        Mr. Greer, how have these cost increases affected your
    brewery and what kind of adjustments are you making to make
    sure you can stay ahead of this inflation that has been
    created?
        Mr. GREER. At this current time, the adjustment we have
    been forced to make is that my wife and I have been volunteers
    running our business for the past 15 months. The costs are not
    real controllable for us, and I live in a small rural, one of
    the poorest counties in the State of New Mexico, and we don't
    see any practical way that we could raise our prices.
        Chairman CROW. The gentleman's time expired. We can loop
    back around for a second round.
        Mr. WILLIAMS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
        Chairman CROW. I am going to recognize the gentlewoman from
    Illinois, Ms. Newman, for 5 minutes.
        Ms. NEWMAN. Well, good morning. Thank you, Chairman. Thank
    you, Ranking Member Young Kim. This has been a great discussion
    this morning.
        I want to start by lifting up some leaders from my home
    State of Illinois. In light of today's hearing, I ask that the
    committee--offer unanimous consent to submit a statement from
    Clear Flame Engine Technologies into the record. Clear Flame--
    --
        Chairman CROW. Without objection.
        Ms. NEWMAN. Thank you.
        Clear Flame Engine Technologies is a Black and women
    founded small business dedicated to decarbonizing technologies
    in the energy sector. Their statement can serve as a blueprint
    for small businesses in the energy sector, so so entered.
        A couple of other comments, if I may, Chair.
        So I would like to associate myself with Chair Crow's
    comments. Just to reiterate 95 percent of all small businesses
    will not be affected in any way by any tax increase and, again,
    it would be to 28 percent not to 35 percent, to be clear.
        But I do have a couple of questions, and I think our
    witnesses today have offered great ideas. So my first set of
    questions would be to Mr. Hasselbeck, if I may. I love the
    notion of a national work training program. Do you envision
    this being a partnership of public and private and unions?
        Mr. HASSELBECK. I do. I think, you know, the need for
    skilled workforce development is so great and so urgent, we
    need to explore any and all viable opportunities. And as I
    mentioned before, we've gotten a lot of advice and support from
    our local IBEW partners here, but there are other alternative
    passes as well like our own apprenticeship program which, you
    know, meets the same technical requirements, job site training,
    getting paid while learning, but it is a 4- and a 5-year
    program. So, as I think Mr. Gilchrist had mentioned, these take
    some foresight in investment to make sure that we are setting
    folks up for success right from the beginning.
        A really common piece of feedback we get from our new
    employees is, man, I wish I knew that there was this
    opportunity when I was going to college or when I was starting
    out in my careers. And this is often a second career as they
    get into the trades. So I think where the public and private
    partnership can come together is really that education at the
    early stage, and helping kind of really support these high
    school starting trade-based educational programs is a real
    career opportunity for long-term wealth creation.
        Ms. NEWMAN. Thank you for that. And if you have any other
    materials on what you have done locally there, we would love to
    see that on the committee level. So please share if you can.
        Mr. HASSELBECK. Yeah. We would be thrilled to.
        Ms. NEWMAN. And then, Mr. Gilchrist, I am very excited
    about Just Transition. I started BlueGreen Alliance and Just
    Transition council in my district. So we will be reading your
    materials in earnest. But a couple of questions for you around
    how has played out in Colorado. Have you worked primarily with
    small businesses on this? Or who all participates, and who is
    seeing the most success and benefit right now?
        Mr. GILCHRIST. Thank you, Representative Newman. That is
    also a good question. Also as you know, by being a lawmaker
    yourself, a robust stakeholder process is extremely important.
        Ms. NEWMAN. Yeah.
        Mr. GILCHRIST. And we work alongside a number of groups
    that bring small business voices to the policy discussions, you
    know, environmental entrepreneurs to--there is also the
    Colorado Outdoor Business Alliance, Good Jobs for Colorado, and
    many of our rural roundtables that, you know, all of those
    groups are convening across the State.
        I think what has been fairly unique about this year, as you
    know, we are testifying virtually here, is that there has
    really been a great opportunity to bring in those voices from
    other parts of the State, those small business owners from
    places like Mesa County, from Pueblo County, which are, you
    know, are a lot further away from Denver than, you know, than
    we usually see.
        You know, one of the things that has been really useful for
    them in developing this transition process, which, by the way,
    was created by the first in the nation legislation creating the
    office in 2019, and the action plan, which actually focused on
    community engagement, community listening sessions around the
    State, hearing from a lot of those voices, has led to some of
    these policy solutions we are seeing today.
        So, we try to bring in, as you know, myself, you know, the
    work we do at NRDC, as well as all the legislators we work with
    trying to bring in those voices from across the State.
        Ms. NEWMAN. Thank you. And more, please. And I yield back.
        Mr. CROW. The gentlewoman yields back. I now recognize the
    gentleman from New York, Mr. Garbarino, for 5 minutes.
        Mr. GARBARINO. Thank you, Chairman. Thank you for holding
    this hearing. And thank you to the witnesses for coming today.
    My first question to Mr. Greer, businesses on Long Island where
    I represent have suffered during, and in the aftermath of the
    COVID-19, especially our restaurants and taverns. Since being
    sworn into Congress, I have attempted to help many small
    businesses. In fact, one of my first acts as a member of this
    committee was offering an amendment to increase the funding
    available for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. And the
    American Rescue Plan, unfortunately, was defeated.
        Now, I am proud co-sponsor of the Entree Act, which is
    being offered by the Ranking Member, which would utilize
    unspent funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to
    assist American restaurant owners who are working tirelessly to
    serve their employees and communities.
        Mr. Greer, you touched upon this a little bit in your
    testimony. How would the Entree Act and a properly funded
    restaurant revitalization fund program support you and your
    employees in the recovery, in addition to what you had already
    stated?
        Mr. GREER. Well, I am not familiar with the new plan you
    were talking about, but the SBA revitalization----
        Mr. GARBARINO. It would fund that bill up to almost about
    $70 billion from where it is now.
        Mr. GREER. Well, anything--you know, one of the concerns I
    have is I am seeing a lot of people who have taken advantage of
    loan programs over the last past year, and have not been able
    to grow their businesses coming out of this who are now in a
    position where they are having trouble about thinking about how
    to pay that back.
        So small grant programs are, obviously, useful. One of the
    things that I--and we can use all the help that we can get. The
    restaurant industry was one of the hardest hit, along with
    tourism. The--I wanted to make a comment in here because a
    couple of times I have heard that small businesses like mine
    won't be affected by the changes in the tax rate, which may
    very well be true, except that all of my suppliers fall into
    that category of those who will be taxed, and that will
    increase my costs because there is certainly going to pass
    those on.
        All the help we can get in getting this industry and the
    tourism industry out of this pandemic is useful.
        Mr. GARBARINO. Right. I appreciate that, but the money that
    would come directly from the restaurant revitalization fund, if
    you would--did you apply for that, sir? Did you apply for a
    grant? Or did you not because you didn't know if you were going
    to get money?
        Mr. GREER. No, we did apply. We qualified for a small
    amount of money, but it would have been enough to do the one
    task that I had of increasing our ability to power more of our
    building simultaneously. We did, and we were not--we were not
    picked. They said they ran out of money before they got to us.
        Mr. GARBARINO. Okay. So you need more money to go into that
    program. Okay. Thank you.
        Mr. GREER. Yes. Thank you.
        Mr. GARBARINO. And this is just a general question. We are
    talking about--so far if anybody who wants to answer. We are
    talking renewables, renewable energy. I have spoken to small
    businesses in New York. I don't know if you know this, but by
    2030, 70 percent of the energy that we produce has to be
    renewable energy, as well as 3,000 megawatts have to be
    produced by energy storage. I have spoken to small businesses,
    union shops that are going to be--they are very excited to work
    on the wind turbines and other projects that are going out
    there. But my question is a two-part question. Should nuclear
    energy be considered part of clean energy, and will that help
    with jobs?
        And for the battery storage, something that I am running
    into, or our companies are running into that want to do it, are
    local municipalities and zoning laws, they are not being
    treated as public utilities, at least not in New York right
    now, so they have to come up with specific zoning laws, or
    comply with zoning laws. And a lot of people don't--a lot of
    NIMBYers, they don't want it in their area. So is that a
    problem--are you seeing--one, should nuclear be included in
    clean energy? And, two, the battery storage, are we seeing that
    kind of problem with local municipalities and zoning? So
    whoever wants to jump in. Mr. Hasselbeck, I see your hand up.
        Mr. HASSELBECK. I would like to start with the battery
    storage question. ReVision Energy operates in four different
    States. And in those four different States, we have four
    different sets of jurisdictions and codes and standards. And it
    is certainly a significant challenge to have a single product
    offering, and insulation program that meets varying code
    standards, especially for new technologies.
        We, too, like Mr. Greer, are often in a very rural area,
    and our local authorities having jurisdiction often struggle to
    apply codes and standards for technologies they don't have
    legacy experience with. So we spend a lot of our time and
    energy educating our local AHJs.
        So additional support from the Federal level to streamline
    the permitting process for energy storage installations, and
    other technologies for that matter, is really helpful. Just
    last week----
        Mr. CROW. Unfortunately, the gentleman's time has expired.
    I will now recognize the gentleman from Minnesota, Mr. Phillips
    for 5 minutes.
        Mr. PHILLIPS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do appreciate it.
    And, Mr. Hasselbeck, I want to congratulate you on your recent
    B Corps designation. And I hope you could just elaborate for
    this committee why you decided to take that step to become a B
    Corps and an ESOP, as I consider that to be perhaps one of the
    most compelling possibilities for this committee to inspire for
    businesses across the country. If you could share a little
    about that journey in your decisions, we would appreciate it.
        Mr. HASSELBECK. Well, absolutely, and thank you for asking.
    We think that additional Federal support for companies or
    organizations would prioritize both social and worker benefits
    as highly as profit margins is really important. So whether it
    is ESOPs, cooperatives, B Corps, those are all different
    strategies to achieve that goal.
        Something that is particularly neat about ESOPs in general,
    is that not only the ESOP companies have, on average, a higher
    level of wages for all of their staff, they also perform better
    financially just as individual businesses. So we think that
    that is at real catalyst to growth.
        Since 2017, when ReVision Energy became an ESOP company, we
    have seen our ESOP share values increase roughly 3,000 percent.
    And that benefits every single co-owner of my company,
    regardless of their job title, role, or responsibility level.
    So, we think that that is a really key long-term aspect of
    wealth creation. It is not just wages, it is wealth creation in
    the event of ESOP values. And making sure that the people doing
    the actual work, climbing up around on the roofs or out in the
    muddy fields, they need to share the financial benefits of
    their company's success, and we think ESOPs are great.
        We think the B Corps opportunity is great way to provide
    third-party objective certification to our different
    approaches. And that is really important for us. I am a
    construction guy, so I would appreciate metrics and goals and
    standards. And what we think is great from the B Corps, it is a
    very specific and a very detailed set of qualifications. And
    you are either doing this stuff or not, and it allow uses to be
    objectively measured and allows our consumer bases to take that
    objective measurement to say, You don't have to listen just to
    me, in my opinion. You can look at this third-party
    certification process that shows that, not only are we doing
    good for our employees and the workforce, but also our local
    social justice initiative. So it really just helps us kind of
    crystallize our individual company mission.
        Mr. PHILLIPS. I love it. And as someone who believes deeply
    that businesses can and should be positive forces for good,
    Representative Chrissy Houlahan, my friend and colleague and I
    just started a caucus called the Stakeholder Capitalism Caucus,
    trying to encourage fellow Members of Congress to participate
    in encouraging such things.
        So share with us, from a policy perspective, what can and
    should we be considering to inspire more ESOPs, more B Corps,
    and, frankly, more sharing from those enterprises that generate
    success with the people that help make it possible?
        Mr. HASSELBECK. Sure. I think it is education. I was
    looking at the Committee for Employee Stock Ownership Programs,
    and I think there is somewhere around 6,700 ESOPs in the United
    States today, covering about 15 million workers. That is a tiny
    drop in the bucket. I think we have several million
    individualized small businesses throughout our country right
    now, and a lot of folks are just unaware.
        I talked to industry peers and other businesses all the
    time who are very interested and curious about our ESOP
    transition process. And it is great story, but they just are
    not aware of the financial. There is really compelling tax
    benefits as well to becoming an ESOP, which helps us put our
    profits directly back into our people and our mission.
        So I think education, and then of the opportunities out
    there--and it is still--it is--it is a regulatory challenging
    process to become an ESOP. It took us about 18 months. We had
    to reach a certain scale before we as a company had the capital
    to apply to the ESOP transition.
        So, perhaps, some additional support for smaller businesses
    who want to become an employee ownership, who want to cover the
    employee ownership model, but don't yet have those excess
    dollars in their budget to dedicate to the time.
        Mr. PHILLIPS. Terrific. Well, we would love to work with
    you towards that end, and encourage my colleagues to join us in
    this important mission. Sharing success is the most beautiful
    outcome of capitalism. With that, Mr. Chair, I see my time is
    drawing to a close, I yield back.
        Mr. CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. I will now
    recognize the gentlewoman from New York, Ms. Tenney for 5
    minutes.
        Ms. TENNEY. Thank you, Chairman Crow and Ranking Member
    Young Kim for holding this important hearing. And thank you to
    the witnesses for your time and expertise and insight into this
    important issue. Obviously, as a small business owner, the
    middle class is essential to this country. But my big concern,
    coming from a State like New York, is that supporters of the
    Green New Deal too often actually ignore the science of energy,
    and push economics that end up hurting our energy sector and
    our independence, and raise prices on consumers all the way
    through the line. Unfortunately, this administration has taken
    some of the Green New Deal priorities to heart, destroying our
    energy sector, making us more dependent again on OPEC, causing
    the gas prices to go up, and devastating families, and having
    among the highest energy costs in the nation.
        In New York State, it has not helped our small business
    community, along with high taxes and over regulation. And on
    top of that, there seems to be very little effort on sourcing
    some of the essential materials we need for batteries, such as
    for solar panels. Our energy supply chain is more reliant on
    countries like China for our rare earth elements and those
    types of things. That is why I just--I would like to just ask a
    couple of questions.
        As a small business owner that relies on a municipal power
    source to keep us going in New York, thankfully for that, but
    we have sort of a Green New Deal, actually, in New York State.
    But I would like to pose my first question to Mr. Gilchrist. In
    your testimony, you said how clean energy transition in
    Colorado has been a win-win for the State. However, Xcel
    Energy, Colorado's largest utility, has announced it is seeking
    a rate increase of nearly 13 percent next year.
        So politicians keep hyping up the power grid that is
    completely reliant on solar and wind is cheaper than fossil
    fuels, nuclear and hydro, and some of those other resources,
    but those savings haven't seemed to pan out. What do you think
    has gone out with Colorado's clean energy transition? And how
    can we keep prices down and affordable for small business
    owners?
        Mr. GILCHRIST. Well, I thank you, Representative Tenney.
    You know, I am not sure I can comment too much on Xcel's rate
    increases, but I can comment on what will help save small
    businesses money. And one of the things that I think Mr.
    Hasselbeck was getting at is another policy solution is
    creating a national building standard. You know, 13 percent of
    building--13 percent of overall emissions in the country come
    from commercial and residential buildings. So, if you create a
    national standard rather than a patchwork approach, then you
    can allow businesses to plan for that.
        In addition, creating clean energy incentives, also on a
    national scale, where more folks across the country can take
    advantage of that, is literally putting money into the pocket
    of small business owners.
        So that is where I think we have the most opportunity to
    really drive that investment. You know, as I mentioned before,
    clean energy businesses are small businesses. So, you are
    directly helping them create the micro capitalism where small
    businesses are literally helping other small businesses thrive.
        Ms. TENNEY. I would like to reclaim my time. I come from a
    State, New York State is an original colony. We have buildings
    that some are 100 years old or even more. Our small business
    community is already overtaxed, overwhelmed with regulation. I
    am not sure how we would be able to invest in new building. We
    have a sea of buildings for sale, actually, in upstate New
    York, that people are looking to sell or to use that space, as
    a commercial property owner as well. So I am not sure that
    imposing another standard on building is actually going to be
    helpful for small businesses.
        But another issue, I just want to address this to Mr.
    Hasselbeck as well. In your testimony, you advocate on behalf
    of wind and solar stating that in some circumstances, it is the
    lower cost source of domestic power generation than nuclear,
    coal, and natural gas--you know, nuclear being completely
    emission free. However, the manufacturing of solar panels and
    batteries are heavily reliant on rare earth minerals often
    sourced in China.
        Would you also advocate for updated Federal regulations to
    make it easier to source those raw materials for batteries and
    solar that we need for those indications?
        Mr. HASSELBECK. I would. We would advocate for that,
    because we think having a strong domestic supply of all
    materials within the supply chain is a critical part to create
    additional jobs, as well as to allow the United States to
    manage our costs. You know, similar to Mr. Greer's supply chain
    challenges, this is the most challenging year to be a
    construction company that certainly we can remember with
    rapidly increasing costs as well as increasingly delayed
    fabrication timelines.
        Some of that, not all of that, some of that manufacturing
    is domestic. We buy a lot of U.S. steel. And that stuff is
    great, but I think some of these rare earth minerals would help
    us continue to reduce the costs and control our own supply
    chain.
        Ms. TENNEY. Thank you. I think my time has expired. But I
    do know that most of these rare earth minerals are actually
    mined in the United States, sent to China to be processed and
    sent back. It would be great if our small business community
    could actually do the type of work on these rare earth minerals
    and keep it here and keep our jobs here. But thank you very
    much to the witnesses. I appreciate your testimony. I yield
    back.
        Mr. CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back. I will
    now recognize the Ranking Member, Mr. Luetkemeyer, the
    gentleman from Missouri for 5 minutes.
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, a good hearing
    today. And I just want to comment on a couple of a comments
    that you made earlier with regards to, yeah, 95 percent of the
    businesses out there, S Corps passthroughs of some kind. But
    out of the C Corps, 1 million of those are small businesses.
    They are concerned about increasing taxes. And a statement
    where increasing taxes is helpful smacks to me of changing
    economics when you think taking money from people and
    redistributing it is a good deal. Changing economics has never
    worked in the history of this country or this world. Increasing
    people's taxes, in my mind, is not helpful.
        Mr. Greer, would increasing your taxes be helpful to you?
        Mr. GREER. No.
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. I understand your comment about being a
    volunteer. I appreciate that very much. Being a small business
    owner myself, I understand that you are the one that gets the
    last paycheck on the stack. And if you run out of money, that
    doesn't get to cover your check, so you don't get paid.
        Mr. GREER. We are still here because we took a big cut of
    working as volunteers. We are lucky that we could do that. I am
    unlucky in that the paid staff still isn't working.
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Yeah, it is interesting, you know, the
    studies show that these tax increases, for instance, for sure
    on C Corps are passed on to the customers, employees, as well
    as the owners. So tax increases are devastating.
        Just a curious question here for you, Mr. Greer. I know
    that you talk about inflation. I will get to that in a second
    here. But there is a lot of other hidden costs that you have to
    pay, the things that have gone up. Has your unemployment
    insurance taxes gone up? Has your workman's comp gone up? Has
    your liability insurance gone up? Because I know because of the
    COVID pandemic, there is a lot of States that have raised their
    unemployment insurance rates to make up for the losses to the
    unemployment fund. Have you seen that in your State?
        Mr. GREER. We have seen it in the State, a lot of it,
    because I have virtually no staff. And my staff that works for
    us are all owners in the business.
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Okay.
        Mr. GREER. But one of the things that is difficult for us
    is we have so many multiple tiers, particularly in liability,
    serving alcohol that it appears that the consumer of the
    alcohol is the last one being held responsible for any of the
    liability.
        We just approved recreational marijuana. I know there is a
    conversation among the workman's comp insurance companies about
    whether, in anticipation of that, it might be a great
    opportunity for them to raise people's workman's comp, just in
    anticipation that there could be a problem. And I know that
    that has a lot of building trades really wondering about what
    is going to happen to them in the future.
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. That is a very huge issue, depending on
    industry. And thank you for your comments. With regard to the
    restaurant program, this is something that we are looking at in
    trying to fix, quite frankly. You are one of the victims of the
    prioritization that was in the bill. In the bill, there was
    three separate groups that were prioritized over others.
    Unfortunately, you were not one of folks who were in the three
    initial priorities. And the bill has been viewed as
    unconstitutional by Texas and by Tennessee courts.
        So that is hung up. Half the money has not gone out. Half
    the money has gone out. And all of the money is committed to
    all of those folks in those three first groups. We would like
    to fix that. There is a bill to do that. We want to try and
    find some sources of funds to be able to fund that at a level
    that you would be included in that, sir. So hang with us. We
    are going to--we haven't forgot about you. We are going to work
    with you here to try and continue to help you along the way to
    keep your business going.
        With regards to inflation, small businesses are getting
    creamed with inflation right now. And it started with, you
    know, restricting the pipeline up north and restricting
    permits. And as you saw, immediately, there was an increase in
    gas prices. That is a rippling effect to the entire economy. I
    think you mentioned it a couple of times already, the increased
    inflationary prices of energy that you faced with putting in
    your--the parts of your product that you need to make it work.
        Mr. GREER. Well, the--I am heavily reliant on outside
    suppliers for raw materials. I am not a big business, but I
    still which, in itself, is difficult because I can't take
    advantage of some of the economies of scale that the larger
    brewers can. The transportation costs are also impacting this
    fuel. One of the things we have with the workforce is we don't
    have enough truckers out there running as well. It has been a
    very difficult supply chain thing for us because we truly are
    the end of the line.
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. The ripple effect of increased energy
    prices is across the board, across all of your increased costs
    that you have for your inputs in your product as well, then you
    have to pass it along on the end game for the price that you
    charge for your product.
        Mr. GREER. Energy is one of my biggest expenses.
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Thank you. I yield back.
        Mr. CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. I believe
    we are out of additional members for questioning. So we will
    start to wrap the hearing.
        So with that, you know, I always appreciate this
    committee's robust discussion on how to create jobs, how to
    grow businesses. The bottom line is, these are challenging
    issues. There is no doubt about it. Building a business,
    creating jobs, and spurring growth is not an easy thing to do.
    And I always appreciate that. The legislative process that this
    committee goes through to actually find the best way to do
    that. And part of that is just, you know, just the facts. And
    one thing that I will say in closing here is, I love facts
    because they just happen to be true. And a couple of those are
    that 95 percent of small businesses operate as passthrough
    entities and will be exempt from the corporate tax rate.
    Another one is that the administration's proposal, corporate
    tax rate structure proposal is that, number one, we actually
    spend--we actually pay for what we spend. We know that we have
    to make investments in infrastructure in this country. We know
    we have to do that. But there are--infrastructure is falling
    apart, and we cannot be a 21st century competitive economy and
    compete against China and others without strong infrastructure.
        This proposal would actually pay for those investments. You
    know, unlike the record deficit spending that we saw under the
    Trump administration, we believe in fiscal prudence, we believe
    in being able to pay for what you spend.
        The second thing this proposal really does is novelly that
    treats everyone equally under the law. We believe that if you
    are a huge corporation, that you should pay for some taxes.
    That you should actually pay for the roads and the bridges and
    the things that you use as a major corporation, and not be
    exempt, because, frankly, it is the small businesses that end
    up paying those taxes and pay for that. And it is the large
    businesses they could exempt. So we believe in enforcement. We
    believe in making sure that everyone pays their fair share. And
    I think it is really extremely important component of this
    proposal.
        The next one is when President Biden took office 6 months
    ago, the economy was just fluttering along, adding only 60,000
    jobs per month. Today, we are creating over 600,000 jobs per
    month. The fastest growth at any point in any administration's
    history. Just dwell on that one for a moment. The unemployment
    rate is down to 5.9 percent after one of the worst employment
    crises in this country's history. What an accomplishment that
    is.
        And then on the issue of inflation, almost unanimously,
    most economists say this is a natural blip post-recession,
    right? You always see, after recessions, an increase, because
    demand is outpacing supply. The supply chains are ramping back
    up, manufacturing is ramping back up, the supply chains are
    reaccommodating that, and that costs--that causes the increase
    in costs. And you always see that leveling out after those
    changes. Those are just facts, folks. That is what is
    happening. That is the assessment. I think it is extremely
    important that we talk facts so we can make good policy, and we
    can legislate appropriately. So with that, I look forward to
    continuing the work with----
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, I would like
    to reclaim some time in opposition to make a rebuttal statement
    in closing.
        Mr. CROW. No, we are going to close out, Mr. Luetkemeyer.
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. We are always offered the opportunity. As
    you were able to articulate here for several minutes, we have
    the opportunity to also have our own voices heard in a closing.
        Mr. CROW. Are you going to do the closing for Ms. Young
    Kim, the Ranking Member?
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Yes, I will do the closing.
        Mr. CROW. Okay. When I am done, I will do that. One moment.
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Okay.
        Mr. CROW. The gentleman is recognized for 5 minutes.
        Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Thank you. Well, I appreciate the
    Chairman's reiteration and emphasis on facts. It certainly is
    important. As I have stated earlier, you know, increasing taxes
    is not helpful. Those taxes are passed on to customers,
    employees, and the less dollars are returned to the owners of
    companies.
        When you talk about the jobs that are being created, we are
    still hundreds of thousands of jobs short from where the
    projections were by the administration, because we are not
    growing the economy as fast as it needs to be, and could be
    growing if we were to fix this $300 check that is out there
    that doesn't allow people, or incentivizes people to stay home
    rather than go to work.
        Again, the comments made about the supply chains. Yeah,
    supply chains are a problem, but they are broken because the
    people are not going back to work, and as a result, there is a
    shortage of parts, and there is a shortage of people,
    everything from truck drivers to manufacturing employees, to
    people serving folks at restaurants because they are
    incentivized to stay home.
        1.8 million people decided not to take the job they were
    offered as by the Morning Consult Poll just last week. Forty
    percent of the people can make more money staying home than
    they can going to work. Twenty-six States so far got rid of
    that $300 check, and you have seen an increase in the
    employment in those States. That is why the numbers you see are
    going in the right direction from the standpoint of
    unemployment going down. That being said, we still have a huge
    problem with the labor participation rate in this country. It
    continues to go down because people do not go to work because
    they are incentivized to stay home.
        So the programs and policies of this administration are not
    working. We are limping along. And being successful in spite of
    them, not because of them. I think that is the point we need to
    make.
        Also, with regards to the tax bill and the infrastructure
    as you were talking about, it is interesting that--you know, I
    have talked to multiple electrical utility companies, an
    electrical generation company, executives who are talking about
    if we went to all electric vehicles, we don't have enough
    electrical capacity to provide the amount of electricity it is
    going to need to make this work. We don't have the power grid
    built up to make it work. And for us to then spend--and our
    numbers I have seen, anywhere from 120 to $170 billion for
    electrical charging stations. That is like about building a
    bridge to nowhere because only 2 percent of the cars are
    electric right now. It would be much better spent if you wanted
    to spend 120-, $170 billion to put in the roads and bridges,
    which improve the maintenance and ability of cars to run
    efficiently on those roads and over those bridges, or make
    energy efficient gas pumps. Why not make more energy efficient
    gas pumps instead of electrical charging stations that is
    costing $150, $200,000 apiece, and nobody is going to use them.
        Mr. Chairman, this is the folly of this administration.
    This is the fallacy of the policies that are out there with.
    The American people are seeing this nonsense. And Mr. Greer on
    here today had some very salient observations about some of the
    problems, and he, as a small business owner, is directly
    affected because he has to wait for his paycheck until we
    finally make some money and get this economy going. With that,
    I yield back.
        Mr. CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back. I always
    appreciate a robust debate and discussion. So I appreciate the
    comments and look forward to working with all of the members to
    figure out how we do what we all want to do and that is create
    jobs, grow our economy, and address the climate crisis at the
    same time.
        So with that, I would ask unanimous consent that members
    have 5 legislative days to submit statements and supporting
    materials for the record. And, without objection, so ordered.
    And if there is no further business to come before the
    committee, we are adjourned. Thank you.
        [Whereupon, at 11:34 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

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